Last Date
by Just Funning
Summary: Set during I Was Made to Love You in season 5, this is the tale of Joyce's last date the night before she died.  And it's not with who you might think...


**I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters therein.**

LAST DATE

Joyce Summers was having a horrible time.

Brian had seemed so nice and charming when they'd met at the gallery, but now that they were out on an actual date, she was beginning to see he was an arrogant ass who seemed not to realize that people other than himself existed on the planet. They'd been here nearly an hour and he'd yet to pause in his monologue about his job and his car and his condo and his important friends to even ask about Joyce's day or compliment her outfit.

Speaking of which, she pulled her shawl tighter around herself, feeling terribly conspicuous. She'd chosen her best dress for the date, expecting Brian to take her to a nice restaurant, certainly not thinking they'd end up at the Expresso Pump, Sunnydale's one coffee shop with its auto-themed decor. This was the kind of place teenagers went on dates, not women in their…well, of a certain age. Where would he take her next, the Bronze?

"And do you know what kind of car they tried to give me as a rental while my Beemer was in the shop?" Brian was saying. "A Kia Sportage, can you believe it?"

Joyce took a sip of her lukewarm cappuccino and sighed. "What's wrong with a Kia Sportage?"

"I had to explain to the agent like he was a mentally defective child that I'm a man of a certain station in life, the car I drive has to make an impression. And I wasn't going to be making much of an impression in an SUV."

"I drive an SUV."

Brian dismissed the comment with a flip of his hand. "Yes, but you're a mother of two who just runs a little art gallery to fill up her day. Impressions aren't as important for you."

Joyce's posture became rigid as her temper flared up like the mercury in a thermometer on a hot day. "Excuse me? I _just run a little art gallery_?"

"Calm down, Joyce," Brian said with a patronizing smile. "It's a charming little gallery, but it isn't like you do important work there."

"And I supposed you do important work?"

"You know it."

"You work in real estate, Brian; it's not like you feed starving children or anything."

"Who would want to feed starving children? There's no money in that."

"So that's how you measure the 'importance' of your work? In how much money you make?"

"What other measure would there be?"

Rubbing at her temples to combat the headache that was just starting, Joyce said, "You know, Brian, I think this date is just about over."

"What do you mean? It's early, we haven't even had scones yet."

"Oh, I have had quite enough, believe me."

"Well, let me drive you home."

"No thanks," Joyce said, digging in her purse and throwing the money for her drink on the table. "I'll call a cab or walk."

"Hey babe, is it your time of the month of what? Do you know how many chicks out there would kill to be out with me?"

"Thanks for the cappuccino," Joyce said then casually reached out and knocked over her cup, sending the remainder of the drink into Brian's lap. It wasn't hot enough to scald his crotch, but his pants were pretty much ruined.

Leaving him cursing, Joyce got up from the table and stepped out onto the street. Her first date in years and it had proven to be a total nightmare. She'd had more fun with Ted, and he'd been a homicidal robot.

Now how to get home? It wasn't really too far to walk, but in these heels it might prove more than a bit uncomfortable. So that left a cab. At times like this she wished she had a cell, but surely there had to be a payphone somewhere on Sunnydale's Main Street. As she looked around, she noticed down at the end of the block the lights were still on in the Magic Box, despite it being after the shop's normal closing time, which meant Rupert Giles was probably still working.

Joyce hesitated. Did she really want to bother Mr. Giles? Their relationship was…complicated, to say the least. When she'd first learned the truth about what her daughter was, she'd felt a surprising amount of hostility toward the Watcher who seemed to know Buffy better than Joyce, who had shared a side of her life that Joyce hadn't even known existed. Then of course after the incident with the band candy a couple of years ago, just being around Mr. Giles made her uncomfortable.

But not spotting a payphone anywhere, she figured it was either ask to use his phone or walk home and risk painful blisters on her feet.

Decision made, she walked down to the Magic Box and knocked on the door. At first there was no answer so she knocked again. Finally the shade over the door was pushed aside and Giles stared out at her through the glass. He unlocked the door and opened it. "Joyce, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"I was actually hoping I could use your phone."

"Of course, come in."

Joyce stepped into the shop, feeling a bit out of place. Even though her oldest daughter was a demon fighter (it still felt weird to think of Buffy in those terms), the world of monsters and creepy-crawlies was not the world Joyce walked in. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism, grounding herself in the mundane reality of life as much as possible in order to keep her sanity now that she knew what truly lurked in the darkness. And despite the fact that both her girls spent a fair amount of time in Gile's shop, Joyce had never actually been inside before.

"Nice place you have here," she said. "How's business?"

Giles led her over to a round table with a lighted top. "Very well, actually. One perk of living on top of a Hellmouth is that people are always in need of occult items."

"I guess you have to put in a lot of hours."

"Well, yes," Giles said, taking a seat across from her. "I was actually just going over the books. And what about you? I thought I heard Buffy mention you had a date tonight."

"I did, but...let's just say that Buffy's high school graduation was probably less of a disaster than my date."

"Sorry to hear that. If it's any consolation, you look absolutely stunning."

Joyce felt a blush creep into her cheeks. "Thank you, Mr. Giles."

"Please, call me Rupert."

"Of course. If I could just use your phone, I'll call a cab and get out of your hair."

"A cab? I won't hear of it. If you give me just a few minutes to finish up here, I'll be happy to drive you home."

"Oh no, I don't want to put you to any trouble."

"No trouble at all."

"Well, thank you. That's very kind."

Joyce waited while Giles gathered up his papers and ledgers and put them away. She wandered around the shop, looking at the bizarre and sometimes frightening items on display on the shelves. In the glass of one of the display cases she caught her reflection and laughed.

Giles looked over toward her. "What?"

"Nothing, just…well, it took me longer to get ready for my date than I spent on the actual date itself. Buffy and Dawn are going to tease me relentlessly about this."

"Don't tell them."

"When I show up back home barely an hour after leaving, I think they'll know something is up."

"I don't have to take you home right away."

"Really, I couldn't possibly—" Joyce was interrupted by a loud rumbling sound coming from her own stomach. "God, how embarrassing."

"I take it you didn't get a chance to eat on your date?"

Joyce just shook her head.

"It's settled then. We'll grab a bite to eat before I take you home."

"Are you sure I'm not keeping you from anything?"

"The only thing you're keeping me from is a night of boredom."

"Alright then."

After Giles finished putting everything away, they stepped outside and he locked up. "So, are you hungry for anything in particular?"

Feeling a bit daring, Joyce smiled and said, "You wouldn't still have any of that band candy lying around, would you?"

Giles must have dozed off, and when he awoke he found Joyce sitting on the edge of the bed, her naked back to him. As he watched her, she gathered up her clothes and started to dress.

"Not planning on sneaking out while I slept, were you?" he said.

Joyce looked over her shoulder at him and smiled softly. In the low light thrown by the lamp in the corner, she was a stunning vision. "Considering you're my ride, I think not. But I do need to get going soon. I don't want the girls to worry."

Giles nodded. He hadn't planned any of this. They had come back to his apartment for a bite to eat, began talking, both admitting to being terribly lonely, and before they knew it, they were upstairs in bed.

"Did you have a nice time?" Giles asked.

Joyce leaned over him and gave him a lingering kiss. "Very nice."

"Better than the first time?"

"The first time was a spell; this was really _us_."

"So we won't go back to awkwardly avoiding one another then?"

Joyce kissed him again. "Definitely not."

"Good. You're a very special lady, Joyce, and I very much want to see more of you."

"Well, there's not much of me you haven't seen at this point."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do, and I feel the same. The only thing is…"

"What?"

"I don't want to tell the girls right away."

"Understood. There's no rush."

"Good, now what about that ride home?"

"Of course."

Giles started to rise, but Joyce put a hand on his chest and shoved him back onto the mattress. "After another go."

Giles was in a great mood. He spent fifteen minutes searching for a certain album, and once located, the Cream song "Tales of Brave Ulysses" filled the apartment. He'd had flowers sent to Joyce, but in keeping with her wishes to keep their burgeoning relationship a secret, he'd had the name "Brian" signed on the card. He hoped he could see her again soon.

When the phone rang, he checked the caller ID and saw it was coming from the Summer's residence. He answered with a smile. "Hello."

"Giles, you have to come."

He frowned; it wasn't Joyce. It sounded like his Slayer, but her voice was oddly…dead and robotic. Something wasn't right. "Buffy?"

"She's at the house."

Giles started to ask who was at the house, but the line went dead in his ear. Fear grabbed him by the balls and squeezed. There was only one _she_ Buffy could be talking about, and that was Glory, the bitch-goddess that had been terrorizing Sunnydale for the past several months in search of her Key. If she had discovered that Dawn was in fact the Key and had gone to Buffy's house to claim her…

Giles dropped the phone and snatched up his car keys. He had to get to the Summers' home right away. He just prayed everyone was alright.

THE END


End file.
